Issues

Issue 15.2

Themes, themes, themes. Deciding the themes we select for HIV Nursing can be an arduous task. Over the past 11 years we have exhausted many avenues, but surprisingly we’ve never really hit upon drugs and alcohol.

Throughout the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the disinhibition and poor judgement associated with drugs and alcohol have continuously impacted our patients’ abilities to practice safe sex and to keep themselves safe from infection.

It seems obvious doesn’t it: we get older we get frailer. But are the two things automatically connected, and what is frailty? To some it’s generalised weakness, the inability to complete activities of living, or is it just an affliction of old age?

The term ‘homelessness’ is interpreted in a variety of ways, depending on perspective and context. The definition which is generally accepted
within healthcare settings includes rough sleepers and those in temporary accommodation such as hostel dwellers, couch surfers and squatters.

Maxine RadcliffeLondon Network of Nurses and Midwives Homelessness Group

For some living with HIV, alcohol use may go hand in hand with recreational or street drug use, poverty, anxiety and/or mental health issues. This article will look at the development of Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome.